It is common to perform signal processing such as post processing on audio data. For example, an audio-player application running on a personal computer (PC) may perform various post processing operations, such as dialog enhancement, volume levelling, equalization, virtualization, virtual bass, etc., on audio data that it receives from a source, e.g., from a CD-ROM, from a Blu-ray disc, streamed over the Internet, etc.
Traditionally, audio data from such sources tends to have been generated at a sampling rate of e.g. 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz. More recently, however, higher sampling rates such as 192 kHz have become more popular, even in consumer hardware; audio data generated at these higher sampling rates is sometimes called high-definition audio data.
For audio post processing, a move to higher sampling rates means an increase in computational burden. For example, adapting existing audio post processing algorithms to support higher sampling rates may entail updating the underlying algorithms, e.g. by including new coefficient tables, widening signal paths and, in some cases, changing the underlying algorithms to resolve numerical accuracy issues.
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